Fastener



' as by flattening Patented .italy i7, i928.

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Applieation meri Nay 7,

This invention relates to interlocking fas-y teners of the kind in which series of complementary mating or interlocking elements are arranged along the 'opposed edges of a gap or opening in a garment, shoe, receptacle, or Vother article made of such flexible material as textile fabric, leather or rubber, and more particularly to^ sliders forQ such fasteners adapted to close the gap and'interlock the complementaryI fastener members onmove ment in one direction and on movement in the opposite direction to unlock thefastener members and open they gap., I

In certain types of fasteners of this general character it is common to decrease the thickness of thelfastener from front to rear the fastener elements of the opposed series, and theouter ends of the elements may also be bent out Vof the 'plane of the main body of such elements or otherwise shaped to enable them more positively to interlock with one another. Under such circumstances the opposite rows of interlocking members \are somewhat dissimilarly shaped, and the principal objectof the present invent-ion is to provide an improved slider which is partlcularly adapted to co-operate slider;

with fastener elements of the modified character mentioned and whichI Will very positively and efl'ectually guide the same into interlocking relationship.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is afront elevation, partly broken away, of a fastener vprovided with a slider `embodying a preferred form of the inven- Ation;

Fig. 2 is a view of the opposite sideof the Fig. 3 is an elevationy of a blank from which the preferred form of slider is formed;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section'on the lines 1 -4 of Fig." 2;

Fig. 5 is a long gitudinaly vertical section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4;

"FigV (Lis a front elevation of a modified form of slider;

Fig. 7 is a view from the opposite side;

Fig. 8 lis an elevation of' 'a blank from which the second structed. n -x Fig. 9 is awsection on the line-9-9 of Fig. 7; and

line 10-10 of Fig.l=9.

: or wings 27 and/28.

formy of slider is con- Y Fig. -10 is a longitudinal section on the,

'19.25. serial No. 28,569;

The fastener as'herein illustrated consists essentially of two helically wound springs \15 and 16, respectively, whose convolutions constitute the fastening elements, and an 'actuating slider 17. While the fastener elements constituting the series disposed at oppos1te sides of the opening, may, as here shown, form "the spires of a continuous coil, they may, as is also common, be formed as 1ndependent rings or otherwise Without departing from the present invention. p

The springs 15 and 16 are coiled in opposite directions and may conveniently be made of wire of approximately .029 inch in diameter wound upon a one-eighth inch mandrelto form open helices'. .The wire eini ployed should be sti enough elfectually to prevent distortion .in use and preferably resistant to corrosion. Wire having .the

.characteristics of nickel-silver wire is well adapted for the purpose.

The springs 15, 16 vmay be fastened in `any suitable manner to strips of mater1al 19 and 20 respectively. .The springs 16 are yflattened eso that. their individual convolutions or loops are of generally oval or egg shape with their longer axes lying substantially in the plane of the material to which they are fastened. Theconvolutions of the Aspring 15 are more acutely flattened at their' the spring 15 is bent o ut o f the general l plane of the convolution as indicated in Fig.

1 so that when engaged between adjacent convolutions of` the opposite spring these bent ends tend to hook over the latter convolutions and thereby enhancethe interlockn ing effect yof theconvolutions.

The slider 17 is preferably formed from a blank 25 (Fig. 3). This blank comprises a central lportion 226 these wings are whereby to form of the slider. The wings 27 and -28 are asymmetric-al with respect to a line extend-` ing longitudinally of the .brought into parallelism of at least one wing, for example the wing 28, are bent inwardly to provide marginal guide flanges 29 and 30. The wings 27 and- 28 are shaped as by means and wider end portions By bending the blank, i60

the front and rear plates blankl and the wing l 28 is wider than the wing 27. The edgesd of suitable dies, )llo folded upon itself as shown in Fig. `5, and

Where the folds merge into the respective wings they provide curved surfaces 34 disposed between the arms 'of the respective Y-shaped ribs and these opposed curved surfaces combine to form a divider member. or guide element spaced from but cooperating wit-h the divergent'arms of the ribs to position the convolutions of the opposed series.

A narrow strip 35 projects from the end of the wing 28 and terminates in a tongue 36. This strip is bent in the manner indicated in Fig'. 5 to furnish an attaching loop for the handle or pull 37. The tongue 36 at the free end of the strip 35 passes through openings 38 and 39 in the front and rear walls of the slider and is preferably bent over or upset fastener elements of the opposed series engage one another progressively, entering between and interlocking with each other. The Y-shaped ribs guide the convolutions substantially all of the time that they are within the slide and the convolutions are thus moved guide the adjacent ends of the convolutions and maintain the narrow ends of the c0n` volutions 15 .central with respect to the con-` volutions 16.

The slider illustrated in Figs. 6 to 10, is in many respects similar to that shown in Figs. 1 to 5, but involves certain structural differ-1V ences. This slider is Iliade from a blank 40 which comprises Wing portions 4 1 and 42 reeos in Fig. 8 being somewhat wider than thev portion to the right, and the wing 42 is wider than the wing 41.' y

In the finished slider' it is the portion to the left of this line which cooperates with the series of more elongate elements 15.

The wings 41 and 42 are pressed or stamped` or otherwise treated to form upon-them projecting Y-shaped ribs comprising the divergent arms 46 and 47, the arms 46 being slightly the more pronounced since they serve to guide the narrow end'portions 21 of the convolutions 15. The wing 42 is provided with lateral guide flanges 48 and 49. After the formation of the Y-shaped ribs and the' guide flanges 48 and 49, the wings 41 and 42 are brought into parallelism with each other, bending taking place at the junction of each wing with the neck 43. The tabs 45 are now turned in between the wings 41 and 42, their free extremities being curved as substantially to meet," thus providing a suitable separator guide for the convolutions of t-hel series l5 and 16. To strengthen the slide and to permit attachment thereto of a p ull 50 a gen-I erally U-shaped element 51 is soldered or otherwisesecured thereto. This element 51 comprises a portion 53 fitting into the slot 44,

and generally parallel portions 52 and 54,v

the former engaging and being soldered to the outer surface of wing 4.1 and the latter being parallel to but spaced from the outer surface of the wing 42,its free end being brought into engagementI with the latter wing and soldered thereto if desired. The spaced relation of the portion 54 with respect to the wing 42 permits the pull v50 to slide freelyfor a substantial distance longi- I tudinally of the slider. y j

In each form of slider disclosed there is provided means for guiding the opposed fastener elements ofthe two series into engagement'y with each other, and for positively holding such` fastener elements so that they cannot tilt or twist relatively to one another.

The ribs projecting towards each other on the front and back plates position the narrow extremities 21 of the elements15 midway between tlie plates, and as the upper arms of the ribs on eachl plate merge int'o one the Vfastener elements are guided smoothly into interlocking relation. The flanges at the outer edges of the Wings serve not only tomove the convolutions toward the invention may assume other forms or be each other but cooperate with the ribs on the plate in positively guiding the same.

While there are described above two forms which the invention may assume in practice and which are well adapted to accomplish the objects stated, it will be understood that substantially modified Without departing f from its spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A slider for fasteners of thekind 'comprising`opposed series of interlocking fastener elements arranged along each of the opposed edges of material bordering on an opening or gap, the elements of each series constituting coils of a continuous helical spring, the .springs being flattened so that the individual coils or fastener elements are of lnon-circular, elongate form with their longer axes in the plane of the material to which they are attached, the coils of one spring being'shaped differently from those of the other, said slider having parts defining converging channels, the respective channels being adapted to receive and to guide the fastener elements of the respective series, said channels being unlike in section and conforming closely of the respective fastener elements with which they engage whereby positively to position opposed elements as they approach the point of interengagement.

v2. A slider for fasteners of the kind comprising opposed series of interlocking fastener elements arranged along each .of the /opposed edges of material bordering on an opening or gap, each series consisting of substantially egg-shaped loops with their longer axes in the plane of the material, the .smaller ends of the loops of one series being arranged to interlock with the broader ends of the loops of the other series, said slider comprising spaced substantially flat front and rear plates, one at least of said plates having inwardly directed marginal flanges and one at least of said plates having .an inwardly struck'rib, said rib with 'said flanges defining converging guide channels for the reception' of the fastener elements of the respective series, the channels being unlike in section and conforming vrespectively to the, shape of the elements with which they engage whereby positively to position the elements of the two series as they approach the point of i'nterengagement.

v3. A slider for fasteners of the class described comprising spaced parallel front and rear plates integrally united at one end by a narrower neck portioudoubled upon itself to bring its points of union with the respective front and `rear plates into juxtaposition, said plates havinginwardly projecting members defining guide channels for fastener eleto the shape ments, one end to the free end of the front plate and extending in spaced parallel relation to the front face of said plate, said strip having its other extremity' attached to said neck portion, and a lhandle device slidable along the pai'allelly spaced portion of said strip.

4. A slider for fasteners of the class described comprising spaced parallel front and rear plates connected at one end and free at the other, said plates having inwardly projecting oppositely disposed members defining converging guide channels for fastener elements, a narrow strip secured at one end to the free end of the front plate and extending outwardly from the front face of `said plate, then being bent to extend parallel to the front of the plate, then again being bent and passing through aligned openings in the front and rear plates near their point of union, the extremity of said strip being' deflected to engage the' rear face of the slider. v

5. A slider for fasteners of the class described comprising spaced substantially parallel front and rear plates having means defining guide channels for fastener ele-v.

ments, said channels in transverse section, being broader at one end than at the other, the broader end of one channel section being opposed 'to the narrow end of the otherchannel section.

6. A slider for'fasteners of the class described comprising spacedparallel front and rear plates having means defining guide channels for fastenerelements, said channels being of substantially-oval shape in section with the smaller end of one channel opposed to the broader end` of the other channel.

7. A slider for fasteners of the class described comprising opposed series of inde-` pendent fastener elements arranged along each of the opposed edges of material bordering an opening .or gap, each series consisting of substantially oval loops with their longer axes in the plane of the material,'the smaller ends of the loops of one series being arranged tointerlock with the broader ends ,of the loops of the other series, said slider comprising spaced substantially parallel front and rear plates having means defining converging guide channels for the recept-ion ofthe fastener elements of the Orespective series, each of said channels being substantially egg-shaped in transverse section with .the longer axis of the sections in the plane of the material bordering the gap, the smaller end of one channel being -opposed to the broader vend of the other chanf nel.

Signed by me at New Britain, Connecticut this seventeenth day of April, 1925.

GEORGE E. PRENTIGE.

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